title: Self-assembly of three-legged patchy particles into polyhedral cages.
abstract: The self-assembly of rigid three-legged building blocks into polyhedral cages is investigated by patchy particle simulations. A four-site anisotropic interaction potential is introduced to make pairs of overlapping legs bind in an anti-parallel fashion, thereby forming the edges of a polyhedron of pentagons and hexagons. A torsional potential, reflecting an asymmetry or polarity in the legs' binding potential, proves crucial for the successful formation of closed fullerene-like cages. Self-assembly proceeds by a nucleation-and-growth mechanism, with a high success rate of cage closure. The size distribution of the self-assembled buckyballs is largely determined by the pucker angle of the particle. Nature explores a similar building block, the clathrin triskelion, to regulate vesicle formation at the cell membrane during endocytosis.
authors.affiliation: Computational Biophysics Group, University of Twente, PO Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands. w.k.denotter@utwente.nl
authors.forename: Wouter K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: den Otter
authors.forename: Marten R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Renes
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Briels
mesh_terms: D016880:Anisotropy; D001703:Biophysics / Q000379:methods*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002966:Clathrin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004705:Endocytosis; D037741:Fullerenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry; D008954:Models, Biological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D010316:Particle Size
chemical_list: D002966:Clathrin; D003102:Colloids; D037741:Fullerenes; D008055:Lipids